Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

  On this World Mission Sunday we might ask ourselves the question: “How have I been a missionary this past week, month, year?”  It is not an absurd question but rather one which the Church has asked us especially since the Second Vatican Council, and every Pope since then presenting the same challenge.  When we truly understand the meaning of mission:  making the Gospel known to all we encounter, then we do not think of it as something out of our reach.  Mission and missionary, for too long, were thought of as dedicated clerics or lay persons dedicating themselves to far off and exotic places.  That of course is one aspect of mission and it takes an immense amount of courage and stamina to do it.  But courage and resolve are necessary here on the home front as well, most especially with those closest to us.  Our timerity comes at the risk of “offending” or being shunned by those we love.  Being a missionary, at home or abroad, is a risky business.  God, of course, does not leave us without the gifts and wisdom necessary to bring the Good News to others.  Most of the time it is just a matter of unleashing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit already present, and maybe dormant, in our souls.

    As we pray for the Missions far and wide and support them with our contributions as well  let also ask the Good Lord to set us on “fire” with spreading His Holy Word.

With Blessings

Father Langan

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Heavenly Father,

We humbly place our beloved Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, into Your loving and merciful hands.

Surround him with Your peace. Strengthen his body, comfort his heart, and grant him courage in the face of uncertainty.

Guide the hands and minds of his doctors, bless those caring for him, and, according to Your holy will, restore him to health.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary wrap him in her maternal mantle, and may the Holy Spirit sustain him with unwavering faith and hope.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

                 The unnamed man in today’s Gospel asks one of the two universal questions: (in our parlance) “How do I get to heaven?”, and the other being, “if there is a good God, why is there so much evil in the world?”  These are the inquiries that so perplex the modern person. Assuming that we want to get to heaven we must first realize that Jesus Christ by His Passion, Death and Resurrection has “paved” the way for our being able to enter the heavenly realm.  Our part is to follow the way He has set by cooperating, imitating, and offering our lives to Him.  This began in the waters of Baptism but frequently we smear the eternal light entrusted to us and scurry through the dark, anxious and directionless.  When we invoke the wisdom of God as mentioned in the Book of Wisdom we avail ourselves to the virtues of prudence and humility that set us once again on the right path.  And that right path is exactly where we want to go.

        Travelling on the right path means getting rid of the cumbersome baggage that weighs us down.  That “baggage” becomes evident to us when through prayer and discernment we recognize what impedes our spiritual progress.  Yes, the way to heaven is not easy, but is it God’s fault or our own?  Are we so attached to the sins and preoccupations of this world that we are hindering our progress?  I wonder what the discernment of the questioning man concluded.  I wonder if he took up the challenge of our Lord.  I wonder if we can?

      Remember that October is the month of the Holy Rosary and perhaps only second to the Mass and the Sacraments, it is the most powerful means to bring peace and concord to the world.  Praying the Rosary is an act of charity because we are sacrificing our time and attention for other matters in order to bring about a greater good that may not even directly affect us but certainly bestow grace upon others.  The repetitiveness of the prayers are not meant to twist the will of God or make Mother Mary love us more than She already does. Its tempo is to calm our hearts (studies have shown that praying the rosary lowers blood pressure), and souls that we might  be more disposed to God’s grace and desirous of accomplishing His will.  Do not let this month pass without making the rosary an important spiritual discipline in your life.  A special thanks to all who gathered this past Saturday for the annual rosary rally.  For those  who led it and prepared for it our deepest gratitude.

With Blessings,

Father Langan

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

First, may I thank all who prepared and served my  unexpected 75th birthday party last Sunday, and for  all who were able to attend. It was indeed a surprise  and joyful celebration. I am sincerely grateful for your  good wishes and the beautiful cards and such generous gifts. It was the “fuel” that keeps me going. Bless  you. 

As we feel the chill in the air and see the spectacle of  color surrounding us we behold a beauty that soon  will fade and become lifeless. It seems to be an ending,  but in truth is only a dormancy, a slumber, until there  will be a fresh and new beginning. It means we always  live in expectation and anticipation. That is the basis  for the virtue of hope. The season of less-light creates  in us a longing for more light and that light is Jesus  Himself. The Lord enters into the dark to address  it and dispel it wherever it may be. Many times that  darkness is within us and in our relationships, particularly in that sacred and binding relationship between  a man and a woman in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. Always, husbands and wives must remember, as  Jesus does in today’s Gospel, that He is the bond that  holds two persons together in marriage because He is  the author of human love and devotion. Thus, for man  and wife to be faithful to each other they must first  be faithful to Him. Faithfulness to Christ in married  and family life magnifies human love making it all the  stronger and more fruitful. Because our Lord is recognized and acknowledged as the bond then no trials or  difficulties are too difficult to handle. 

Our Lord in today’s Scriptures brings us back to “as  it was in the beginning”. He provides hope for those  who may be going through that darkness and cold  that Satan tries to exploit in trying times. May we be  humble enough to permit our Lord to always bring us  back to the beginning through repentance and confidence that He can and will make all things new. 

With Blessings, 

Father Langan 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

When we read the Sacred Scriptures or hear them  proclaimed at Mass and in prayer we are exposed  to the various genre (literary forms) from both the  Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek languages. Today’s Gos pel presents us with such in our Lord’s about avoiding  evil at all costs. It sounds like He is encouraging us to  disfigure ourselves lest we fall into sin. This is not the  case. 

Our Lord employs this quirky genre of hyperbole (exaggeration) to make a point, namely, we should avoid  anything that harms our relationship with God. This is  what we mean by “fear of the Lord”. 

Very often we are unaware of things which strain  that beautiful relationship, for instance: Time. Every  moment, every second, every minute, every hour,  every day, every….is a gift from God to us. He alone  knows how much of that time is allotted to each of  us. It begs the question: “how do I use the time gifted  to me? How do I make a return to the Lord for the  precious gift of time I have received?” Time itself is  amoral, neither good nor bad, but what we do with it  determines how we will spend timeless eternity. At  the end of the day when we make our daily examination of conscience recall how wisely or foolishly we  have spent our time. It can never be reclaimed. 

Speaking of time and right use of it, your parish needs  you to make good use of time by fulfilling the numerous lay ministries that build up our communal life;  immediately we are looking for an organist who can  temporarily fill in at St. Bernard’s while our present  organist is recovering. Upon her return to the keyboard there will be need for a sub from time to time;  always, we are in need of cantors, lectors, altar servers, both youth and adults, (some, and I hate to say  it) snow shovelers, help with grounds (weeding and  shrub cutting), and assistance with numerous projects  that all our properties entail. So if you feel you can  devote some of your time and talent to the betterment of your parish please give the parish office a call. 

God bless, 

Father Langan